Alternative Video Books

This book already saved us money!

I have only had "The Art of Film Funding" about a week and already it's saved our production company hundreds of dollars. The research I was able to do in the pages of Dean's book made our first meeting with an attorney go quickly and smoothly. It's putting us a few precious steps ahead of the game, and in the documentary world that can make worlds of difference in the cost of your production.

There are so many post-its on the different pages it looks like I trapped a herd of butterflies inside the book.

Buy it, read it, keep it by your side all during your film funding process.

PJ Smith
Producer, RGO Media Associates
Author - The Power of the Dark Side: Creating Great Villains, Dangerous Situations, & Dramatic Conflict
Inner Drives: How to Write and Create Characters Using the Eight Classic Centers of Motivation

As a documentary filmmaker in desperately search for funds to make my film a reality, I can say that this book has helped me explore the infinite possibilities that lay out there in the universe waiting for me to tap on them. As the cover of the book evokes, Carole Dean gives you the best tips for you to catch those colorful funding butterflies that can not only bring you the moneys you need but will help you spread the word on your film and sow the seeds of what can become a forest of funding opportunities. The back of the book is an incredible resource that has over 100 funding organizations listed with contact information, you have months of research done for you to find the funding you need.

At last...a positive attitude successfully combined with real experience in the independent film world!! The admirable Ms. Dean, who started a business selling those end pieces of film from the major studios to aspiring filmmakers with tight budgets has her heart in the right place. She admires people who are following their dreams by taking those first steps and wants to help them keep steppin' to the finish line. I gleaned a lot out of the stories of how individual filmmakers got their films made. Read the book, then get to work on your film!

This book aims at the beginning independent filmmaker. As such, it's an excellent introduction to thinking like a business person, opening your mind to new approaches to funding, and becoming aware of potential legal issues. The prose is highly readable, even energizing as her positive spirit infuses every page. Reading this book is like a late-night jam session crammed full of the excitement of ideas and possibilities. The interviews in the book are useful both for their good advice and for the sense they convey that there are very specific people available to help you get through the process. The information presented in this book makes film funding seem doable.

When I opened this book, I expected two things. One: Due to the sub-title "Alternative Financing Concepts" - I expected a chapter on "How to Sell Your Body Parts!" and, Two: I expected this book to be boring.

Happily, I was wrong on both parts - but why do I need an extra kidney anyways?

Ms. Dean does a great job in making the art of film fund finding, well, fun. With years of experience on both sides of the business, she explains in a mix of interviews and stories the process of pitching your idea, looking for those willing to fund your film and all the nuances and approaches you should take. Not only that, she includes an EXCELLENT reference section (50 pages of a 250 page book) with names, addresses, phone numbers, websites, etc. That alone is worth the price of the book.

Much of the first few chapters in the book revolve around pitching your idea. Even if you are on the fence in terms of whether to make your film or not, Ms. Dean emphasizes a lot of the aspects of Pitching that can come in handy in any situation where you have the opportunity to talk about your idea.

With my own independent film on the horizon, and the aspect of me trying to sell a kidney to raise funds, I was surprised when the first half of the book focused mostly on documentaries. I wondered as I read through those pages as to how the rules and ideas and suggestions she was giving would fit my project: A feature film with 15 actors using an original script written by me. Not my documentary on the slaughter of innocent ants by rabid 10 year old boys with magnifying glasses.

Half-way through the book, though, she does focus on the aspect of how to find funding for your independent film and then she goes on in later chapters to deal with "Branding" (making your pitch unique with photos or other graphics), "Finding Partnerships" and even a chapter on "Federal Tax Laws" - and again, if you think these chapters are pages and pages of droning commentary - think again: Most of these are interviews with people in the trenches who have worked through the process, know the process, live the process.

One of the things I found surprising in this book is there is a lack of focus on story and the story you are trying to tell (whether it is in Documentary Form or Fictional/Non-Fictional 3-Act Structure Story Telling). A recent seminar I went to on Independent Film one of the speakers came right out and said: "Is your story worth telling?" Though Ms. Dean touches on it a little, there is not a lot of time spent on making sure that your story is one that has an audience. Granted, a book about film financing should be about film financing not a book on whether your documentary of sadistic 10 year old boys is worthy for a slot on PBS during their next pledge drive.

Another issue I have with this book is a common one: Create a list of all the websites mentioned in the chapters for easy reference. Though the expansive reference section alone is worth the price of the book, Ms. Dean sprinkles almost every chapter with names, websites, even phone numbers of people to contact. It would have been the icing on the cake to also include those in the reference section under a separate heading broken down by chapter. That way lazy writers like me don't have to skim through the chapters looking for the familiar www. Though, in their defense, they did a unique thing of highlighting the interviews so they could be found quickly.

Once again Michael Weise Productions has produced a great book, unique to the marketplace filled with all the nitty-gritty details of what it takes to find financing for your film. Hats off to them, and Ms. Dean.

Finally a book that tells you how to get it together and make your film. Gives you a plan and the confidence to go out there and make it happen. Great interviews with people who've done it. Should be mandatory reading for every film school grad who is trying to make their first film.

The expansive knowledge, invaluable information and contained in this book are the tools required and needed to bring your project to reality. Ms. Dean willingly feeds the reader knowledge and ideas based on tried and true methods that never become outdated. In a time when filmmaking has become not just a dream; but, a life work option this book provides filmmakers of all levels the tools and inspiration need to complete their work. It is a map used by documentarians and filmmakers to aid in completing fully funded, successful works.

Wayne just blew me away with this book! It has everything - history, bi film resources, humor, context, even a little dishing.

Everything I would have put into a film book is right here.

There are hundreds of books out there full of film lists - on the top 10 or 100 or 101 or 1001 greatest movies/worst movies/most expensive flops/greatest stars/most important film directors whatever.
This book has fun with the idea, with some truly original and often very funny Top 10 lists. The writing is witty, and the writers (including the Coen Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, and DBC Pierre amongst others) know their films, so small international films are as likely to be included as big Hollywood fare.
The top ten lists include unlikely categories like 'Dodgiest Decisions of the Cannes Festival Jury', 'Worst Wigs an Actor Dared to Wear', 'Gratuitous Machine-Gun Frenzies' and dozens more.
Seriously, it's possibly the most enjoyable film book I've read since Michael Medved's Golden Turkey awards books from many years ago.

I like reading books on screenwriting as they teach you how to install the skeleton of story...have three acts, a clear premise based on conflict for the main character, someone or thing to fight against and you are away once you have chosen the genre. So in a western it's the lone flawed hero against the cattle baron struggling to find his place between the call of the wild and the lure of the town as he fights his way to the big showdown before riding off in the sunset. Or in a horror film, it's the lone victim and her family/friends trapped in the house on the hill fighting against evil sub-human monster who kills indiscriminately until finally defeat as the dawn of a new day breaks.

What Alternative Scriptwriting by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush does is to show the rules so you can break them. They give a detailed breakdown of 14 genres and how they use the individual building blocks before discussing such things as how to:

* mix and match genres and what works and what doesn't;
* change structures so 4 Act or two Act stories;
* reframe the roles of passive/ active characters; and
* use tone or narrative voice.

Its not done in a dry way as the discussion is linked to case studies or comparisons of different Directors and international styles but it does help if you have seen the films or have them on DVD! The important thing is that they argue that screenwriting is part of the tradition of storytelling/writing and so need to draw on the full range. Its not a book to read if you want a how to layout a film script but it is one if you want to explore the narrative force of a book.

An interesting alternative take on genres and the film narrative is The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler. He explores how the mythic Hero's journey shapes plots and characterisation and so genres are merely different aspects of the journey. Again the rule is know the rules to break them.

So read both and enjoy the Saturday movie more but also check why the book works or doesn't

Very clearly written. Very handy if you want to pursue screen writing as a career, or just want to understand the myriad of ways that a story can be told. Essential.

I think one of the authors is/was a bigshot NYU film prof and the other guy is/was a big guy from Iowa's creative writing program. So I expected something top notch.

This book doesnt offer any direct advice on authoring an alternative screenplay. or at least nothing that rubbed off on me. Instead it struck me as a film studies book; something that focuses on a number of existing films and offers run of the mill commentary. THats my overall impression of the book - mediocre. It did provide a list of good films. nothing out of the ordinary but good films.

I would hate to take a class from these dudes - sounds boring as heck.

Since the author's dont have much insight or experience to offer, it would have been nice if they had the integrity and ambition to interview all or some the screenwriters that wrote the movies they list. then we could understand the actual insight that went into the story choices - rather than second or third rate conjecture.

If you're looking for a book with top notch insight on some extra-ordinary films, I suggest "Film As A Subversive Art" by Amos Vogel. It doesnt try to present itself as a screenwriting book but is filled with inspirational ideas.

Having had co-author Jeff Rush as a professor at Temple University, I decided it was in my best interest to read his book before I took my next class with him. I thought it was worth my time, because it put into words a great many concepts that my mind has seen and comprehended so many times. It talks about the relationship of the main character to the secondary characters, how to flatten the acts of your story to pack a bigger punch later on, and it makes good use of scripts, both well-known and otherwise. It also has a chapter that explains WHY scripts are formatted the way they are. It's easy to just say, "This is how it is. We can't say why, but we can tell you how to copy it." But these authors explain in detail why certain terms are used and why certain formats make more sense than others. It's one of the better books out there on scriptwriting, well worth the investment in money and time. Fourth edition is coming out in 2006, too.

As a screenwriting instructor who's been looking a long time for a good book on the craft, I can heartily recommend this book for an in-depth discussion of advanced screenwriting principles. The academic perspective provides concrete methods for successful deviation from conventional form, and chapters on genre and structure are a must-read for any serious screenwriter.

After routine basics, Chapter 3 reads like it was written for some other piece of software. Menu item "Catalog" doesn't exist on my version. Left me totally in the dark about this key feature of Writer. I'm still at a loss how to use the advanced features of the program. Very disappointed
Marty Cahill

It used to be that if you bought a new PC it came with useful software such as word processing and spreadsheet programs. Lately, the pernicious practice has arisen of bundling "trial versions" of Microsoft Office that expire in a few days if you don't pay to buy them. I would certainly prefer the old way, where you may not get the most powerful word processor around, but at least you get one you can USE without it suddenly going dead if you don't pay for it. I wouldn't even want to TRY it, and risk the possibility that I'd get used to the software. So when I recently bought a new notebook PC and found this stupid trial version, I quickly uninstalled it and went to get hold of word processing and spreadsheet software so I had the functionality on my machine.

To the rescue: [...], a software package that includes nearly all the functionality of Microsoft Office (certainly all the functionality that I needed!) and even a few things that Office doesn't do (like creating PDF files directly without a separate program like Adobe Acrobat!) I downloaded the software, and immediately had a package of Office-like software free.

The only problem was that it is not well documented. Searching through a help file when you're trying to figure out how to do something is NOT fun to me. So I wanted a book, at least on the word processor, Writer. (The spreadsheet program, Calc, is pretty intuitive to me, but then I'm not trying to do things as fancy with it as I want to do in Writer!) And this book seemed the one to go with.

It has proved useful to me; I'm not sorry I bought it. But it has at least two shortcomings: (1) It describes an old version of Writer, version 1.1 while 2.4 is the current version, and (2) it has a woefully inadequate index. The first is not the author's fault; I'm sure she wrote about the version that was current when she wrote the book, but it does mean that sometimes it describes some feature that does not operate as she describes it, and I'm left trying to figure out how to do what I want to. But the second certainly IS her fault; I simply cannot expect to find what I'm looking for in the index and I'm usually forced to go trying to guess what chapter is likely to have what I want, then flipping through the chapter to find out if she discusses the topic I want to look up.

On the plus side, only two days after getting the book, I've succeeded in doing several things I never could figure out how to do before I had the book, so it has clearly proved useful to me.

Even though the book emphasizes a version of OOo before the current one, this book will get you proficient on the basics of Writer enough to get you off and running. The majority of the basic tasks you will do with a word processor are covered. I would recommend some previous experience with word processors and GUIs in general, but its not completely necessary. For someone switching over from Word to Open Office Writer, this book would more than meet your needs.

Writer is very easy to learn, especially if you have already been using some other word formatting package. A lot of care went into the design of Writer. So that you don't have to be a technical person in order to quickly learn it.

Which largely obviates the need for this book. Most of the material should be obvious to readers. Plus, the book's CD is superfluous, so long as you have Internet access. If you need a version of Writer to install on your computer, try going to openoffice.org and getting the latest version.

I have used OpenOffice.org since before it was called OpenOffice.org and I was surprised at how much I learned when I read this book. Most of the sections stand alone, which means that you can read the sections that interest you at the moment.

This book is very readable and accessible to beginners, and it contains content that some advanced users do not know. If you want to learn how to use styles, for example, this book is amazing. I also learned how to use fields to count my figures and other items. I consider this book a must have.

I found this a very interesting book. I have seen many old shows and always thought some of the character were closeted lovers. I could relate to many of the 'bonds' between characters. The adolescent age period is consistent with the 'chum' stage of Harry Stack Sullivans' psychological developmental stages.
As the book entered into more current media, it seemed to be reaching to stay with the point, I personally believe the lack of actual same sex bonding is due to public awareness of 'gayness' and the major attempts society makes to supress this lifestyle.

Like many of my generation, I can trace back some of my earliest same-sex attractions to teen characters I saw on TV shows or in films of the early 1960's. Frankie Avalon had Annette Funicello as a girlfriend, but why did he seem to be so much happier when he spent all of his time with his surfer buddies? Why was Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman) always starting the show by telling the audience that "I really like girls", but then spent most of his time with his best buddy, Maynard (Bob Denver), and only chasing one girl, Thalia Menninger (Tuesday Weld) who obviously didn't like him? And why did I always prefer Ricky Nelson, even though he seemed to be a bit of a sissy compared to his athletic big brother David?

In his comprehensive study of homoeroticism and subtle portrayals of the (few and far between) "gay-coded" characters on the big and little screens in the last half of the 20th Century, Jeffrey P. Dennis explores the prevailing subliminal trends and intentional messages made by writers, directors and agents of the time. He explores how masculinity was portrayed and protected in each genre of teen films over the years: films about juvenile delinquents, monster movies, hippie-biker films, psycho-slasher flicks, and all the way to the Brat Pack. He also explores the filmography of popular teen idols, putting in perspective his take on why certain roles were taken, perhaps to quash rumors of his sexuality. Lots of background on popular sitcoms of the periods, from "Father Knows Best" (Did you know there was a whole series of episodes where teenager Bud's lack of masculinity or interest in girls was a concern for his family?), through "Happy Days" (Why did Fonzie seem to always prefer the company of teen boys?) and all the way past "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Xander confronts a character he suspected of hiding the fact that he is actually a werewolf, but is more unnerved when he finds out his secret is that he is actually gay!)

The content is not just the author's theories, but indexed with source footnotes in most cases. (I found more than a half dozen films with gay content I never knew about, which I intend to explore on cable or via DVD.) I also found out about long-forgotten films TV series that were made to play up the masculine charms of aging teen idols (such as 1965's "Never Too Young" in which Tony Dow played an auto mechanic who never seemed to have a shirt on, after having never appeared shirtless in 6+ seasons as big brother Wally in "Leave It To Beaver".)

Recommended reading for all ages, though "baby boomers" who remember early TV shows will especially get a kick out of the revelations about their favorite shows. I give it four stars out of five.

I purchased this book and tape ten years ago and have not yet had to purchase new glasses. The book is very easy to understand and the video is easy to follow with very simple and clear to understand directions. I highly recommend this book to anyone for eye vision improvement.

I was a little perplexed by the following two reviews. I do not understand how Mr. Hwang claims the video contains only 3 exercises. There are 16 different exercises on the video tape, some are demonstrated and others are animated graphics which are watched. Maybe Mr. Hwang received a defective video tape, in which case I would request that he return it for a replacement. I assume he didn't watch only the first 5 minutes of the 90 minute video to make his evalution.

To the Optometrist who admits he "never read the book", I would suggest he read the information published by the American Optometric Association. The article titled "The Efficacy of Optometric Vision Therapy" (Journal of American Optometric Association, V 59, No. 2) references over 100 research studies supporting vision therapy. The article "Position statement on vision therapy" (Journal of American Optometric Association, V 56, No. 10) supports the use of vision therapy.

Vision therapy is not a cure-all for all vision problems. It will not cure eye diseases. But I have received many many letters from people who have been helped by this vision therapy program. James Bellevue, author, Improve Your Eyesight

I was doing the 10 week program. After 9 weeks of doing the program, I gave up.. I have not seen any improvement. I would notice something because I can't see anything clear past 7 inches from my face. So forgive me for not doing the 10th week but I don't believe the 10 week is the magical number where everything changes suddenly.

For what it's worth, I'm an optometrist and the optics in the eye can't be altered by muscles (unless we're talking about accommodation). If my camera is out of focus it's the optics. That's why glasses and contact lenses are used...to correct the optics. I'd be leery of anyone who rates this book at five stars. They probably have a vested interest or they are into mind games because the laws of light are not altered by muscles.

Now, if a person who removes their correction (glasses/contacts) they may be able to squint and see better. That is done by limiting off axis rays and only allowing a narrow band of light to enter through the pupil. Again, muscles in the eye didn't affect the optics, only the beam of light was limited. Please....educate yourself on science if you want to know the truth.

In the video, you will find just 3 exercises.

1) Rotating eyeball
2) Rotating neck
3) Tracking an object with your eyes

You can do the exercises (1) and (2) without watching the video. You just rotate your eyeball and neck. That's it.

The video is also useless for the exercise (3). It just displays a small dot moving on the TV screen and you track it with your eyes. Nothing more. Moreover, since it is a video on TV screen, the displays are very flickering so the exercise (3) will only give you eye strain.

I have finished reading this book. It is hard for me
to imagine a stronger case ever made in favor of Roy
Orbison. The author clearly loves Roy Orbison's music
with a passion. Rather than present the usual
chronological biographical narative, the author has
written a scholarly analysis of Roy's:
a) personality
b) music composing style
c) lyric content
d) stage presentation
e) media image
with a psychological analysis of each component listed
above. Throughout he continually stresses that during
Roy's musical formative era (the Sun label period of
the 1950s) and the hit making era (the Monument label
period of the first half of the 1960s) Roy, by virtue
of his own personality and lyrical content did not
reflect the usual masculine mainstream personality so
common at the time. By offering a different approach
and style to masculinity he was something of a godsend
to those men and women who did not conform to or
particularly appreciate the prevailing style of
masculinity. What an original approach to presenting
the life story of Roy Orbison!

I particularly like the emphasis on the idea that the
commonly held visual image of Roy with the dark
clothes, hair, and glasses DID NOT become fully
cultivated until AFTER his hit making era was OVER. I
have always thought that this was a particularly
important point and the author clearly shared this
viewpoint.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book. I recommend it
to other fans of Roy Orbison.

As an Orbison fan since 1960, when I was ten, I was happy to see a recent book about The Big O. Few really have been written since his untimely death. This one presents, rather than a biography, an analysis of his music as it relates to what became known as a rather dark persona. The book was fascinating to me as a long time Orbison fan, and I found it difficult to put down. I often agreed with Lehman's conclusions and thought he himself had to be a bigger fan than me (which I didn't think was possible) to write such in-depth analyses of Orbison's music.

The only issues I take with the book is that its readability slows down greatly in the chapter devoted to David Lynch's use of "In Dreams" in the movie Blue Velvet. This was overanalyzed and boring if one hasn't seen the movie. Secondly, I would have dismissed in a page or two the perverted use of "Oh, Pretty Woman" by 2 Live Crew and the surrounding court cases. To me, legal and fair use arguments aside - no matter how important legally - to devote a chapter to a vulgar, perhaps racist rap group that saw the original song as "white bread" (and didn't get it that it wasn't about a prostitute to begin with) to belittle and make fun of, is to give them too much credibility and legitimacy. They will long be forgotten before Orbison.

Otherwise, it's a good and interesting read and worth the time for Roy's fans.

I truly felt that Mr Lehman's writing was way too analytical. He analyzed to the hilt the songs Roy wrote, the way he dressed, etc. I think Mr Lehman read way too much into the way Roy Orbison performed his songs...the writing of his songs.

I believe Roy knew what listeners of the time liked and wanted. I believe the dark glasses and dark clothing were just the way he wanted to market himself....to stand out from the crowd....not because of some deep dark pain as Mr. Lehman suggests.....

But, then again, I thought (mistakenly) this book was going to be an biography, not an analytical writing.

Sorry about that..

~Cissy

I have long enjoyed medical mysteries in the genre of Oliver Sack's "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" and "The Beetle of Aphrodite" by Howell and Ford, and was the mood for a good read in the same genre. This book, despite its clever title and good cover art was a sore disappointment. The author is a correspondent for [...], and while I find that a nice online site for finding recipes and general information, I don't expect to get that style from a published book. The book has little snippets of information, with seemingly no source material -- no backstories are added and often no names are involved -- the diseases are described but they aren't presented as mysteries at all. It reads like a catalogue rather than a book, and although there is a bibliography in the back, the feeling is that the author got all her information online, from questionable sources -- and you can get much the same info in an hour or two surfing on the web. The several pages devoted to bizarre sexual terms especially doesn't seem to fall under a medical mystery. Don't bother with this one. Really.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It was a conversation piece for my co-workers and me. I do, however, wish that it was longer and a little more detailed. Also, I feel Chapter 5 on Sexual Maladies could have been left out,

If you buy this book thinking that you are going to get the sort of insight into medical conditions that you would get from Oliver Sacks, you are going to be massively dissapointed. This book is best characterized as a thin and cursory catalog of some of the more unusual medical conditions around. As such, I guess it has a place, but there is little in it that merits the time to read it. I was left wondering how she found a publisher to print it.

This was a waste of time and money. If I had recourse to read another book, I would have, but unfortunately this was all I had on hand in the hour or so that it took to read this disgrace to publishinghouses everywhere. I could have found a better-written and more entertaining book by scouring the pages of an elementary school Scholastic book-club order form. It is unconscionable that any good editor took a look at this and let it pass through to printing in such a state.
Just as a child writes a story in crayon about their dog and scurries off to show mommy, Nancy Butcher has thrown together all the internet research she could muster in a print form and declared for all the world to see "Look, I have built a book!"
When picking up a book about medical maladies, I expect a scholarly approach. I expect footnotes and references. Nancy Butcher gives me websites. This entire book seems to be culled from the misinformed and fallible pages of the internet, with not a reputable medical book to back it up. Where one would expect even an elementary discussion of the mechanisms that cause these maladies (in addition to Butcher's amusing anecdotes), she instead leaves me with the impression that her inner monologue while writing went something like "Eww!Gross! Let me include this!" Additionally, her fixation on sexual dysfunction gets rather old, and if not for this factor, I would gladly have passed the book on to a 10-year-old child, at whose reading level this book seems to sit. Ultimately, perhaps it was my fault, for I should have had the sense not to order a book sight unseen. I've learned my lesson, and now peruse all of my books in a real bookstore before buying online.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. That being said, I was disappointed with this book's lack of depth. Many of the descriptions read like an unfinished thought. If you have any previous interest in "Strange Diseases and Conditions," you already know too much to count this book as a worthy investment. Not unlike a previous reviewer, I too was dissapointed by the copious references to websites. I am also curious as to why the author did not illustrate more examples, rather than directing the reader elsewhere. On the upside, it was a shockingly easy and quick read.